Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1887-05-14
NO. 35.
he first railroad accident in Ameri-

fnl sailing car and made various I'M
provements. One day a pleasant
looking stranger entered his shop
and began asking questions. He
answered them good-naturedly and
he was assisted in the courtesies by
his young son Thomas. The visitor
was very much delighted, and he
soon announced himself as Baron
Krudener, the Russian Minister. He
had come over from Washington to
look into the new enterprise. The
result of il all was, that Maehinst
Winans made a locomotive and a
pile driver for the Gear, and the SOU
went across the sea to show the Rus.
SLAMS how to work the new machines.
When this young mechanic came
back he was several times a million
aire, and in a short time all the men,
bers of the family were wealthy.
This is the wealth that now enables
Thomas Winans to lease the largest
game preserve in Great Britain and
Ross Winans to own lands in both
hemispheres.
Peter Cooper's engine was not q
permanent success, and most of the
cars had to be drawn by horses. In
December, 1881, when the road was
opened to Frederick there was y
grand procession of ears drawn by
caparisoned horses, with the Gov
ernor and his suit in the front car.
1t was a big sight for the people, and
the enthusiasm was tremendous.
At first the cars and locomotives had
wheels with flanges on the sides on
the outside, but after several years
of frequent mishaps Mechanic
Winans invented the present sys-
TEN, and made it possible for a car
to run a curve without leaving the
track. The first really good lOcOmo-
tive was the York, manufactured at
York, Pa, which took the prize in a
competitive contest. Itmade mile
in three minutes drawing car con.
tanning forty persons. An old gen:
tleman now livingin Baltimore, who
was one OF the passengers, said, the
other day, that he has never been
able to forget his feelings on that
occasion. At first he did not think
the iron arrangement would go, but
when it started he did not expect to
escape alive, and when he got it to
going up grade at the speed OF o
mile in three minutes he thought the
millennium had surely come.
The builder Of the York, Phineas
Davis, was made Chief Constructor
Of Engines, and so thorough was the
work that some of the engines built
by him on the model of the Y rk are
still in use as regulators" Then
after the York came the famous
"camep' engines, invented by Ross
Winans, ponderous, powerful ma
chimes which have lasted the wear
and tear of many years. The de.
velepment Of the car was as interest
ing as that of the engine. First,
gorgeously painted wagons on rail:
road wheels, then something resem-
bling an old fashioned street car,
then the Winans cars, with eight
wheels, and with seats on top as we'll
as inside, and then the gradual i'm
provement until the modern coach
was reached. ls
The growth Of the Baltimore and
Ohio was as rapid as enterprise and
money could make it, but there came
a time when the money gave out.
The men expected "a, 900, 900 to build
road to the west. They found that
by the time they got to Harper's
Ferry, 81 miles, all this sum was
gone. Railroad building was a big.
ger affair than they had bargained
for. And then came the fight with
the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.
This contest was particularly bitter,
and, although it was compromised,
it has lasted to the present. The
consequence is that the iron horse
has beaten the canal mule, and the
Gold ditch" as it 10 called by Mary.
landers, is so inextricably in debt
that it will probably be sold daring
the present year.
The city and State came to the
rescue of the railroad, and it pushed
ON its operations. In 1912 it reached
Cumberland, in 1S43 Wheeling, and
in 1857, when it ran into st. Louis
and Cincinnati, a great celebration
was held in the latter city, and Presi.
dent Buchanan was passenger on
the first through tram. All these
advances were not made without a
struggle. The road was in chronic
condition of poverty. 1t went ahead
until Its money gave oat, and then it
had to stop until it could infuss a
little confidence in the public mind.
One time it was SO badly of that over
half million Of the city stock was
paid out as currency to creditors and